Forestborn
by PageKat
Summary: They watched, they listened, and they loved him, for he was forestborn.
1. We did this

A silent tear rolled down Feama's face as she watched her son frolic through the trees, his feet catching on a stick, sending him tumbling.

"My little, beautiful, Lyon," she whispered.

The soft crunching of leaves alerted her to the presence of another.

"Do not worry for him, Feama," murmured Hesix, her mate, "he will live, for us."

She looked to her son once more, his golden hair shining in the morning light.

"It is done," Hesix said, "our baby is grown, he is not a child anymore. He will forge his own path."

She did not answer for a long while, watching silently as the elves found her son, as they asked him his name, and took him away with them.

When they were finally alone once more, without turning, she said quietly, "We did this."

The two deer turned and left the place, fleeing the memories of the elfling whom they could not keep.


	2. They will remember

The trees remembered, even as his own past faded from him, they watched, and remembered.

Fawn, he was. Wild and carefree as the wind, yet cautious as if hunted. And fawn they called him.

They loved him, they truly did, the trees. Not many things registered in their thoughts, as ancient as they were, but they did care for the creatures that roamed under their boughs. And he was one of them.

As time passed, fawn grew to stag, and he made his own choices, ruled his own life. Many of the elves where he had been living did not understand his wildness. They didn't get how he could practically fly on his laughter, yet be ready to run of fight at a pin drop. His constant shifting between sane to off-kilter rather ruffled them.

But it didn't ruffle the prince, the trees noted, the prince was just as wild as him, and they often were found laughing together as they grew, doing things no sane elf in Rivendell would do, and finding humor in the littlest things.

The trees knew why. They knew, and they cared. The prince's home was wrought with violence and tragedy, he found solace in the wild, beautiful carefree fierceness of the Elf-deer the trees called fawn.

Yes. The trees remembered. And they would not forget.


	3. We love him

The fawn went here and there in his life, did this and that. Where he went, the trees watched. Then he went with the prince, to his homeland, Eryn Lasgalen, where the wood elves lived. The trees loved the wood elves, too, the royals most of all. They were proud of their fawn, who brought light and laughter to their greenleaf.

The fawn met the king of the prince's land, and the king asked the trees of him. The trees told the king of their shining fawn, beautiful like a star in a sea of dark. They saw him, as he'd grown, they showed the king of his laughter, the joy he brought the prince, how he smiled upon all things in the world, his wildness, and their love for him.

The king understood, yet he asked, "Why do you love him so?"

The trees rustled their leaves at this, questioning each other on how to answer this. At last one tree whispered it's thoughts to the others, who took up the words it spoke and told them to the king.

'Our fawn we have watched and loved, because he is forestborn, and he loves us.'

The king nodded to himself and left the window through which he had spoken to the trees. But the trees still listened as he spoke to the fawn, they felt the fawns joy, and heard his laughter.

When night came, the fawn went to the trees, and they lowered their branches for him to climb.

"Hello my friends," he hummed to them, climbing higher in their branches.

The trees curled their branches around him response, marking a perfect bed for their wayward friend.

'Fawn,' they whispered, 'our forestborn.'


	4. I saw the stars

_Please note! Generally in this story when I say 'they' without saying who I'm talking about, it means the trees. Thank you, read away!_

Fawn lost his friends, his family to the fire that raged through the forest. In his head, his trees screamed.

They watched in horror as he stopped and clutched his head, crying out, though the sound was barely audible over the roar of the fire.

They tried to silence themselves, to make him keep fleeing from the fire, but fawn could still feel their pain, and it hurt him.

The prince did not see that his friend was not following him, and he and his elves raced away from the fire. Their fawn dropped to his knees, clutching his head, and screamed. It was not him that was burning, but it was his trees, his family, and it felt like it.

The wildlife rushed past him, only a deer stopping to try to nudge him onward. When this failed, it too fled the fire. That was when the prince noticed.

He stopped in his tracks and turned, running back, calling, "Lyon!"

At the sound of his name, fawn staggered to his feet and tried to go in the direction of the prince's voice, but the fire cut him off, and he simply collapsed.

'Fawn, fawn, don't leave us!'

Lyon heard the voices of the trees, but they sounded far away.

"Friends?" He asked blearily, he did not understand what was happening. There was a sort of haze around him, and below him he could see Eryn Lasgalen burning.

He could see shapes rushing through the trees, trying to put out the blaze. If he listened hard, he could hear orders being shouted and cries of pain and fear.

The trees were still calling for him, but it was fainter now. What was happening?

Suddenly through the fog around him, he heard a voice, like bells, but full of fear and horror. It was asking the trees, "Where, where is he?"

That voice, he knew that voice! That was Legolas! The trees responded, 'find him, the stars! Find him!'

He could tell his friend didn't understand, but Legolas flew off through the trees anyway, calling for him.

Why was he listening to this? Why could he hear all this? He was supposed to be down with the trees, and the elves, fighting the blaze! Not here, with the stars around him, just watching.

He had to go back, to help them! His family was dying, elves were dying, and a sinking feeling in his gut told him that he was dead too.

But he couldn't be dead, because they still needed him! So, out of sheer devotion and force of will, he forced himself to not die. He would not die, could not die, so he didn't.

The fire was gone, the pain was not. The trees around fawn's body had tried to protect him, but they had failed. He was dead.

As the woodland creatures crept back into their home, they felt the sadness of the trees, and when they saw, they knew why.

The deer returned from their unburnt part of the forest, bringing with them seeds and flowers to help the forest grow back. But these they did not get the chance to spread, as they found the body of fawn.

With a keening cry, a doe dropped her bundle of flowers and spread them to cover his face. Other creatures wove flowers in his hair, and they mourned for him.

Even in the city of elves in the forest, the trees mourning was felt, and the prince's as well. Lyon, fawn was gone.

Fawn forced himself to wake. It was all a bad dream, he told himself, he wasn't dead. And then he wasn't.

Suddenly his eyes opened, and he took a gasping breath. The creatures that had gathered around him cheered as he sat up, wincing when he felt his burns.

The trees were filled with joy as they saw that their fawn was alive. Word spread fast and soon, a tree was tapping its branches against the window to the kings room, where he sat with the prince, comforting the younger elf.

The king, annoyed and sad, stalked to the window and threw it open, questioning the trees. "What?"

'Fawn' they told him, 'Fawn.'

They didn't have to say more, for the king knew what they spoke of. "Where?"

'Coming.' They told him, 'coming.'

Then they turned their attention back to Fawn, who was making his way to the city with their help.

When he reached the gates, the guards saw who it was and immediately let him in, calling for the prince. The trees drew back, satisfied that their fawn would be alright.

"Where were you?!" Legolas demanded, he was angry, yes, but also confused, "We thought you were dead, Lyon."

Lyon just smiled serenely at his friend.

"I saw the stars, Legolas. I saw the stars


End file.
